Recipe of the Month – Jayne Mansfield’s Meat-Sausage Loaf

Here in the UK, when we think of meatloaf we think of this fella rather than the foodstuff.

As Mr Rathbone put it last night “In the 60s and 70s, with our kind of background, there is no way you would ever encounter meatloaf”. I don’t think I ate any until 2006 when I made the absolutely delicious Rhonda Fleming’s Hollywood Ham Loaf. Now I absolutely love meatloaf and Jayne’s was DIVINE.

My massive decluttering project has unearthed some film star recipes I’d totally forgotten about. I have a spreadsheet where I enter recipes I find, it looks like this…

The running total of recipes on the spreadsheet is currently 5869 and I use it a lot. When I want to make something by a particular star, or when I’m working on something for my Eatdrinkfilms column it’s a real boon. I’m currently writing about cherries, so a quick search of the spreadsheet has furnished me with lots of cherry recipes to choose from.

However, my archivist brain is bothered by the fact that the spreadsheet isn’t complete. I know that I still have quite a few books containing recipes that haven’t been popped on the sheet. Including this one from Jayne. When I re-organised my books earlier this month I almost gave this book to the charity shop as I thought it was just about cooking in Shakespeare’s day. But then, incongruously, there are also recipes by famous folk that have nothing to do with the Bard of Avon.

All this to say that I must go through my lovely newly organised bookshelf and get the spreadsheet up to date. Who knows what treasures I’ve forgotten about?

Form into a loaf and place in a greased loaf pan or baking dish. Bake in a 350 degrees oven [180 celsius, gas mark 4] for 50 minutes. Brush the top of the loaf with the remaining A1-Sauce and bake 10 minutes longer.

I am lucky, my friend Heather brings me A.1. Sauce back every time she goes to the States as we can’t get it here in the UK. I think the closest equivalent we’d have here would be some kind of runny barbecue sauce. I’m going to experiment as this recipe used the last of my A.1.

Also I have never seen savory here in the UK, and I’ve hunted for it. So I used thyme instead and it was GOOD.

I couldn’t get to the butcher yesterday and so had to do my meat shop at Sainsbury’s. No sausagemeat – “only at Christmas” said the girl at the meat counter. So I bought a pack of 6 Lincolnshire sausages and peeled off the skins. Then I mashed up the sausagemeat with the beef mince using my hands, squidging it all together before I added the other ingredients. This is how it looked when everything was in…

I used a drained 290g can of mushrooms which was about 150g so a bit more than Jayne suggested. And that’s it. I will do this one again, exactly as above. It made TWO massive meatloafs so one is in the freezer. If you’ve only got one loaf tin, you could halve the recipe I guess, or if you are cooking for a crowd, just form it into a massive loaf in a roasting tin. Quite a lot of liquid comes out during cooking… Mmmmmmmmmmeatloaf!

Speaking as a former American, I’m confused on the difficulty of finding Savory in Britain…it was the Brits who brought it to America (and the Romans who brought it there). Perhaps it’s masquerading by a different name. Regardless, thyme was a good choice on your behalf for a substitute, sage is another good one.
And on the topic of not having enough loaf pans…you don’t have to have any. A meatloaf can be free-formed into a “loaf” shape on a baking tray, and baked like that without a pan (you can alternatively make little individuals). In the American 40s and 50s you could even make a “frosted” meatloaf (frosted like a cake with whipped potatoes and garnished with olive slice polka-dots). Glad Mr. R is enjoying your meatloaf!

“Jayne Mansfield’s Meat-Sausage Loaf”… I don’t think there is anything about that as a heading I don’t like. Maybe I’ve been watching to many Carry on films.
I’ve never even heard of savory, mind you I didn’t eat pasta until I was in my mid twenties so it’s probably no surprise.

I was going to basically say the same thing as Greg, savory seasonings here in the states are any herbs that don’t have a sweet flavor like: parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme or marjoram. You made a perfect choice of using thyme.

Jenny, if you want some A.1 Sauce let me know, I will be happy to send you a few bottles!

1. Combine everything together and place in a glass jar, it seems the potency
remains longer than in plastic.
2. Shake or stir well and store in cool area. DO NOT REFRIGERATE
3. This tends to settle so stir well before using each time.
4. Taste good when sautéing onions for a base for soup or stew.
5. It also makes a different rub for chicken.

Savory Spice Blend Seasonings #2

Use this blend of spices to season meat, poultry, vegetables and other side dishes.
Yield: 2 Tablespoons